Front sight for firearms

ABSTRACT

A front sight for firearms is disclosed. The front sight for firearms includes a body having a top edge, a left edge and a right edge. The body includes an opening and a base. The opening is located between the left and right edges of the body. The opening is also open to the top edge of the body. In addition, the body includes a first projection and a second projection located at the top edge of the body. The first projection and the second projection are formed by the opening meeting the top edge of the body. The base is to be attached to a firearm.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e)(1) toprovisional application No. 62/701,005 filed on Jul. 20, 2018, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to firearms in general, and in particularto a front sight for firearms.

BACKGROUND

Conventional target sighting systems for firearms commonly include afront sight and a rear sight. Typically, the front sight is located atthe muzzle of a firearm, and the rear sight is located closer to thehandle of the firearm. In addition, the front sight may include a postand the rear sight may include a notch or an aperture. When aiming afirearm at a target, a shooter can align the post of the front sight inthe notch or aperture of the rear sight so that the post fills the gapof the notch or is positioned in the center of the aperture.

The present disclosure provides an improved front sight for firearms.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a front sightfor firearms includes a body having a top edge, a left edge and a rightedge. The body includes an opening and a base. The opening is locatedbetween the left and right edges of the body. The opening is also opento the top edge of the body. In addition, the body includes a firstprojection and a second projection located at the top edge of the body.The first projection and the second projection are formed by the openingmeeting the top edge of the body. The base is to be attached to afirearm.

All features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent in the following detailed written description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention itself, as well as a preferred mode of use, furtherobjects, and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference tothe following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment whenread in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts a front sight for firearms, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2A depicts the front sight from FIG. 1 being used in conjunctionwith a notch rear sight;

FIG. 2B depicts the front sight from FIG. 1 being used in conjunctionwith an aperture rear sight;

FIG. 3 depicts a front sight for firearms, according to an alternativeembodiment;

FIG. 4A depicts a front sight for firearms, according to an alternativeembodiment, being used in conjunction with a notch rear sight havingtritium lamps; and

FIG. 4B depicts a front sight for firearms, according to an alternativeembodiment, being used in conjunction with an aperture rear sight havingtritium lamps.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A conventional front sight typically includes a post. The point of aimof a firearm with conventional front sights is either behind the frontsight from the point of view of a shooter or in some proximity to theoutline of the front sight. Since a conventional front having a postusually obscures all or part of a target, the shooter has to guess wherethe point of aim should be in relation to the outline of the frontsight. This is particularly true for a conventional front sight forhandguns. A proper alignment of the front and rear sights willcompletely cover the bottom half of the sight picture. If the frontsights are adjusted to allow the point of aim to be located at the topof the front sight, then only half of the target will be visible at bestwhen a shooter is ready to pull the trigger. If the front sights areadjusted for a “6 o′clock hold,” then the point of aim will be locatedone half target diameter above the top of the front sight. This systemis effective for one target size and a limited range of shootingdistance. For all other targets and ranges, the shooter much guess theproper sight picture in order to aim and shoot accurately.

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, there isillustrated a front sight for firearms, according to one embodiment. Asshown, a front sight 10 includes a body 18 having an opening 12 and abase 15. Opening 12 is located between left edge 14 a and right edge 14b of front sight 10. For example, opening 12 can be located in themiddle of left edge 14 a and right edge 14 b. In FIG. 1, opening 12 isshown to have a substantially circular shape, but it is understood bythose skilled in the art that opening 12 can be of any geometricalshape, preferably symmetrical between left edge 14 a and right edge 14b. Base 15 includes well-known features that facilitate front sight 10to be mounted on a muzzle of a firearm such as a pistol or rifle. Withfront sight 10 being mounted on a muzzle of a firearm, opening 12 allowsa target to be viewed by a shooter on a continuous basis when theshooter is attempting to aim the firearm at the target.

Front sight 10 also includes a first projection (or pointer) 11 a and asecond projection (or pointer) 11 b located on a top edge 16 of frontsight 10. The desired point of aim for front sight 10 is locatedsomewhere between first projection 11 a and projection pointer 11 b,preferably at the mid point between first projection 11 a and projectionpointer 11 b. Thus, it would be beneficial for a shooter to calibrate afirearm having front sight 10 to have the desired point of aim tolocated somewhere along an imaginary line connected between firstprojection 11 a and second projection 11 b. When aiming at a target, ashooter is able to keep the entire target in sight on a continuous basiswhile using first projection 11 a and second projection 11 b to guidehim/her to place the target at somewhere along an imaginary lineconnected between first projection 11 a and second projection 11 b.

The length of left edge 14 a (or right edge 14 b) is approximately 0.3inches. The width of base 15 is approximately 0.25 inches. When opening12 has a substantially circular shape, as shown in FIG. 1, the diameterof opening 12 is approximately 0.15 inches. The length of an imaginaryline connected between first projection 11 a and second projection 11 bis approximately 0.05 inches.

With reference now FIG. 2A, there is depicted front sight 10 being usedin conjunction with a notch rear sight. As shown, front sight 10 ispositioned in the middle of the notch of a notch rear sight 20 forproper aiming alignment. The top edges of aligned front sight 10 andnotch rear sight 20 provide a well-defined elevation for the point ofaim, and two equal gaps 21 align the front and rear sight elevation forwindage. Thus aligned the midpoint of the gap between projections 11 aand 11 b becomes the point of aim for front sight 10. Front sight 10allows a target to be in sight on a continuous basis while a shooter isusing first projection 11 a and second projection 11 b as a guide foraiming. In rifle applications, notch rear sight 20 should be mountedwell forward so that a shooter's eye can get a good focus on the top ofboth notch rear sight 20 and front sight 10 to optimize sight alignment.It has long been understood that the eye automatically centers an imageto a high degree of accuracy as it does when it centers the image of afront sight in a rear sight aperture. Even though the exact position ofthe point of aim is primarily determined by the shooter's judgment, theaiming point provided by first projection 11 a and second projection 11b can reduce errors from the shooter's judgment.

With reference now to FIG. 2B, there is depicted front sight 10 beingused in conjunction with an aperture rear sight. Alignment of frontsight 10 and rear sight 25 is achieved by a shooter centering frontsight 10 in the rear aperture. Similar to FIG. 2A, front sight 10 allowsa target to be in sight on a continuous basis through an aperture rearsight 25 and front sight 10 while a shooter is using first projection 11a and second projection 11 b as a guide for aiming.

Front sight 10 demonstrates three distinct advantages over the prior artsighting systems. First, it provides a non-ambiguous sight picture foracquiring targets at typical shooting distances. Second, it allows ashooter to maintain visibility of a target throughout the sighting andfiring process. Third, in the event that the shooter attempts to engagetargets at extended range beyond the distance for which the sightingsystem is regulated, front sight 10 allows the shooter to aim above theintended target implementing what is referred to as holdover while stillmaintaining vision of the target. With knowledge of the trajectory ofthe firearm projectile and the range of the target, the shooter can makea mental calculation of how far above the target to aim to make targethits at extended range. This is in stark contrast to the prior art frontsights that require guessing where to shoot because the prior art frontsight obscures vision of the target.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is depicted a front sight for firearms,according to an alternative embodiment. As shown, a front sight 30includes a body 38 having an opening 32 and a base 35. Opening 32 islocated between left edge 34 a and right edge 34 b of front sight 30.For example, opening 32 can be located in the middle of left edge 34 aand right edge 34 b. Opening 32 has an inverted keyhole shape. A firstprojection 31 a and a second projection 31 b are located within invertedkeyhole shape opening 32. Similar to first projection 11 a and secondprojection 11 b of front sight 10 from FIG. 1, the purpose of firstprojection 31 a and second projection 31 b is for providing aimingassistance.

The length of left edge 34 a (or right edge 34 b) is approximately 0.65inches. The width of base 35 is approximately 0.45 inches. The diameterof the substantially circular portion of inverted keyhole shape opening32 is approximately 0.25 inches. The length of an imaginary lineconnected between first projection 31 a and second projection 31 b isapproximately 0.05 inches. The distance from a top edge 35 to theimaginary line connected between first projection 31 a and secondprojection 31 b is approximately 0.07 inches.

Front sight 30 offers the same advantages over the prior art sightingsystem, and it offers an additional advantage not offered by front sight10. That advantage is the power of providing a shooter to focus on thetarget while shooting that in prior art was considered heresy.

Prior art best practice dictates that a shooter must concentrate focusstrictly on the front sight. It is well understood that the human eyecan only focus on one of the three elements of the iron sighting systemat a time, namely, a rear sight, a front sight, or a target. By focusingon the front sight, the shooter can minimize alignment errors betweenthe front and rear sight. Small alignment errors can cause large impacterrors by the firearm projectile due to the leverage effect of shortsight radius compared to shooting distance. The issue of focus isimportant because many times when the front sight is in focus, thetarget is a nearly invisible blur. If the shooter focuses on the targetinstead of the front sight, the front sight image becomes blurred.Because the prior art front sight relies on its top and edges to defineits aiming surfaces, the blurring of its image leads to high risk oferror in the very sensitive alignment condition. The blurred front sighthas a slightly different point of aim compared to the in focus frontsight. In contrast, front sight 30 offers a front sight image and pointof aim insensitive to focus. Because the critical aiming surfaces havetwo axis symmetry in the area of the aiming projections, the point ofaim does not change if focus is changed between the front sight and thetarget. Thus, in the alternative embodiment, with or without fiberopticilluminators or tritium lamps, the shooter can focus on the targetwithout losing the front to rear sight alignment that is critical togood shooting.

With reference now to FIG. 4A, there is depicted front sight 30 beingused in conjunction with a notch rear sight having tritium lamps. Asshown, front sight 30 and notch rear sight 35 include optical fibersand/or tritium lamps 33 for illumination and alignment.

With reference now to FIG. 4B, there is depicted front sight 30 beingused in conjunction with an aperture rear sight having tritium lamps. Asshown, front sight 30 and an aperture rear sight 39 include opticalfibers and/or tritium lamps 38 for illumination and alignment.

As has been described, the present invention provides an improved frontsight for firearms.

The improved front sight offers a front sight image insensitive tofocus. Because the critical aiming surfaces have two-axis symmetry inthe area of the aiming projections, the point of aim does not change iffocus is changed between the front sight and the target. Thus, theimproved front sight, with or without fiber-optic illuminators ortritium lamps, a shooter can focus on the target without losing thefront to rear sight alignment that is very critical to good shooting.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A front sight for firearms, comprising: a bodyhaving a top edge, a left edge and a right edge; an opening within saidbody, wherein said opening is located between said left and right edgesof said body, wherein said opening is also open to said top edge of saidbody; a first projection and a second projection located at said topedge of said body, wherein said first projection and said secondprojection are formed by said opening and said top edge of said body;and a base for attaching to a firearm.
 2. The front sight of claim 1,wherein said opening is located in the middle of said left and rightedges of said body.
 3. The front sight of claim 1, wherein said openingis in a substantially circular shape.
 4. The front sight of claim 1,wherein said opening is in a rectangular shape.
 5. The front sight ofclaim 1, wherein said opening is in an inverted key shape.
 6. The frontsight of claim 1, wherein said body includes a first tritium lamplocated between said first projection and said first edge.
 7. The frontsight of claim 6, wherein said body includes a second tritium lamplocated between said second projection and said second edge.
 8. Thefront sight of claim 1, wherein a gap between said first and secondprojections provides a local two-axis symmetry for making said frontsight insensitive to focus for its function as an accurate aligningdevice, and allows a user to focus on a target instead of said frontsight.